Former RNC chair Steele eyeing Md. governor’s race

Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele says he is considering running for Maryland governor in 2014.

Steele told MSNBC host Chuck Todd on Monday that “we’re looking at it,” when asked if he were weighing a run.

Steele pointed to tax increases under Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration and said, “I think we can move the state in a different direction.”

He says he plans to make a decision by the end of the year.

Steele is now an MSNBC political analyst. He was Maryland’s lieutenant governor from 2003 to 2007 and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2006.

Steele had a troubled tenure as RNC chairman before he was successfully challenged in 2011 by Reince Priebus (ryns PREE'-bus), who said he inherited a $24 million debt from Steele. Republicans recaptured the U.S. House while Steele was chairman.